Microbiology and Cell Science Department, University of Florida-IFAS, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Microb Ecol. 2014 Aug;68(2):388-96. doi: 10.1007/s00248-014-0397-2. Epub 2014 Mar 12.
Incidents of coral disease are on the rise. However, in the absence of a surrogate animal host, understanding of the interactions between coral pathogens and their hosts remains relatively limited, compared to other pathosystems of similar global importance. A tropical sea anemone, Aiptasia pallida, has been investigated as a surrogate model to study certain aspects of coral biology. Therefore, to test whether the utility of this surrogate model can be extended to study coral diseases, in the present study, we tested its susceptibility to common coral pathogens (Vibrio coralliilyticus and Vibrio shiloi) as well as polymicrobial consortia recovered from the Caribbean Yellow Band Disease (CYBD) lesions. A. pallida was susceptible to each of the tested pathogens. A. pallida responded to the pathogens with darkening of the tissues (associated with an increased melanization) and retraction of tentacles, followed by complete disintegration of polyp tissues. Loss of zooxanthellae was not observed; however, the disease progression pattern is consistent with the behavior of necrotizing pathogens. Virulence of some coral pathogens in Aiptasia was paralleled with their glycosidase activities.
珊瑚疾病的发病率正在上升。然而，由于缺乏替代动物宿主，与其他同样具有全球重要性的病原体系统相比，人们对珊瑚病原体与其宿主之间的相互作用的了解相对有限。一种热带海葵，即 Aiptasia pallida，已被研究作为一种替代模型，以研究珊瑚生物学的某些方面。因此，为了测试这种替代模型的效用是否可以扩展到研究珊瑚疾病，在本研究中，我们测试了它对常见珊瑚病原体（珊瑚弧菌和希洛弧菌）以及从加勒比黄带病（CYBD）病变中回收的多微生物群落的敏感性。A. pallida 容易受到测试的病原体的影响。A. pallida 对病原体的反应是组织变暗（与黑色素沉着增加有关）和触手缩回，随后是息肉组织的完全分解。未观察到虫黄藻的丧失；然而，疾病进展模式与坏死病原体的行为一致。一些珊瑚病原体在海葵中的毒力与它们的糖苷酶活性平行。
